O.K., just a couple thoughts more on this topic which nobody else seems to think is a big deal and, until we get some more information, of course, we don’t actually know that the Borra-Trottier report is proof of intelligent extraterrestrial life, we just don’t know that it’s not. Then, I promise to leave the topic alone (well, I’ll try) until we get some more information, but I would be surprised if there aren’t a lot of astronomers around the world -professionals as well as amateurs – looking into those 234 suns right now.
I haven’t been able to find out what percentage of stars in the Galaxy are G2V type stars, like our sun, but I’m pretty sure it’s not a rare type. So, out of the 2.5 million stars examined, probably several thousand, maybe over a hundred thousand, might fit that description. So, even among those, 234 is a small percentage. To me, this makes it more convincing that the signals came from advanced civilizations, and not just the natural spectral pattern of that kind of star. It’s basic Drake equation stuff. There needs to be a planet in the Goldilocks zone. That planet needs to have surface water, but not be entirely covered by surface water. Civilzation is not going to develop on a liquid planet because you would not have fire, and without fire you wouldn’t have metallurgy, and that’s pretty key. It’s probably important, if a civilization is going to survive a few thousand years, that the planet not get hit by TOO many asteroids, so a large planet like Jupiter further out might be a prerequisite, but maybe it needs to get smacked now and again by SOME asteroids, and maybe we’re right in the Goldilocks zone of that. If an asteroid hadn’t killed all the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, we’d have never evolved. So, the numbers drop again.
In the end, only 234 out of thousands isn’t so much. If they are intelligent signals, are they coming from 234 worlds which have been settled by one spacefaring species or (which I think more likely), 234 separate alien species, who have formed at least enough of a federation that they’ve agreed on a type of message, which they are now beaming out to us. Well, perhaps US specifically. I suspect it’s mor like “Whoever can see this, please feel free to get in touch.”
Another thought that struck me while I was thinking about this is that the survival of the human race is no longer themost interesting question. The question is, can we have intelligent life that lasts forever? Out of 235 species (counting su), I’d say the odds are pretty good.